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The 47 Percent Delusion

By now, the leaked “47%” comments from Romney have been covered extensively by our 24-hour news cycle. The majority of such coverage has ultimately been devoid of rich meaning or deconstruction as the commentary has wavered between “cold, hard truth” or “insensitive and out of touch,” depending on the source.

What such comments fail to acknowledge is that as grotesque and misguided as Romney’s candor was, it will not be the final straw in his bid for presidency precisely because his sentiments play into a fundamental delusion embedded in American culture and magnified by Republicans in particular—namely, that the strongest (if not only) influence on whether or not one obtains wealth in this country is based on their will and effort. The rich are heralded as self-disciplined hard workers, while the poor are demonized as lazy freeloaders. Very little attention is paid to forces outside of one’s immediate control, such as the larger culture and society one is socialized in, that significantly impacts economic opportunity and upward mobility (or not).

Don’t get me wrong—of course individual initiative and effort and hard work matters. But, the issue of socioeconomic status in this culture is far more complex than personality. A host of situational and cultural factors significantly impact economic mobility, prowess and socioeconomic status, such as but not exclusive to the wealth (or not) that one is born into, being raised in a two parent versus single-parent home, one’s neighborhood of enculturation, access to resources such as education and other significant socializing agents, government regulations and incentives (or lack thereof), access to healthcare, etc. Not to mention the equally significant and often insidious effects based on one’s race, gender, sexual orientation and/or ethnicity. Oh yeah, and a whole host of other intangibles such has luck, timing, etc.

But when it comes to attributions of wealth in our culture, all of these considerations are dismissed (particularly by Republicans) in favor of the all mighty individual/personality that is heralded as one’s strength or peril, depending on the person’s economic status. In fact, even in a post-Occupy Wall Street culture the majority of Americans (58%) still agree with the statement that “the rich deserve their wealth” (Bellafante, 2012). This is in opposition to the French and British, for instance, the majority of which reject such a statement when surveyed.

Romney has revealed who he is and who he plans on advocating for if he becomes the next President of this country. Voters will soon have to decide if they want to endorse his narrative of the sole factor that makes (or breaks) wealth in this country. And sure, there is a certain appeal to his message—after all don’t we all want to think that we have control over whether or not we will achieve the American dream? Nobody wants to acknowledge that forces outside of themselves may be impacting their personal success. But guess what? Most of us aren't going to become the next millionaires, and you know what? In most cases we can't blame ourselves for lack of trying.

As the parents of immigrants who came to this country and who left everything they knew so that they could give their children greater opportunities than they had, I believe in the American dream. In fact, my entire family embodies it. However, despite the fact that I have spent years in school and worked hard to gain my degrees and become a professional, I understand that I may not ever make those millions. This isn't a deficit of character on my part, or my parents'. And I would never be so arrogant as to claim that my successes have been the sole product of my individual personality and achievement, because they have not--they never are. Moreover, I also understand that despite my hard work and my parents' sacrifices, I may not make those millions but countless others with perhaps less talent or credentials might (Snooki, anyone?). And that's okay, too, because the essence of the American dream is that there is more than one way to achieve success in this country, and that everyone has a chance.

Research and history dictates that socioeconomic status is far more complex than just individual will, and that no man is an island. We all need guidance and cooperation from our communities to achieve greater things, and yes, even government intervention, whether on a basic infrastructure level or on a larger scale in terms of fair regulations and oversight, to aid in the completion of our economic aspirations. Here’s hoping that voters in November are able to face this cold harsh truth about reality when they make their choice.

Bellafante, G. (2012, September 23, 2012). As Rich as the Devil, but No Gordon Gekko. The New York Times, New York section, 29.

You to can be a millionaire if you don't have a smart phone and cable/satellite TV, or at least the equivalent bills for them.

If at 18 you decide to invest $200 per month that you would be spending on cell phones and TV at 8% interest, you will be a millionaire when you are 64.

If you drove used cars or didn't own a car, didn't pay for an expensive cell phone plan and didn't pay for TV but only got 5% ($400/month investment), you'd still be a millionaire when you are 68.

Even many poor people have cell phones, cars, and pay TV in the USA.

Nobody has been able to explain why a person that does without all their lives should be punished for being "lucky." Why should your family (at least your parents) be punished for the enormous risk and sacrifice they made immigrating to this country - my wife is an immigrant and I know the risk/sacrifice she made.

What would be more productive is if both parties and the media led and taught the country to quit wasting $200 - $400 on new electronic products that are marginally better than the ones they are replacing. Then almost everyone would be "the 53%" and we could address the issues holding back the minority that is stuck in the "47%."

Instead we celebrate the people waiting in line for days to be the first to buy a phone with almost 9 millimeters more screen.

Republicans in particular—namely, that the strongest (if not only) influence on whether or not one obtains wealth in this country is based on their will and effort. The rich are heralded as self-disciplined hard workers, while the poor are demonized as lazy freeloaders. Very little attention is paid to forces outside of one’s immediate control, such as the larger culture and society one is socialized in, that significantly impacts economic opportunity and upward mobility (or not).

At least half of poor people in the USA have the ability to invest $200 per month if they didn't want the latest gadget. However, we are a consumer culture and we must buy more stuff. My TV told me so. Advertisements solve problems I never knew I had and all I have to do is buy more stuff.

I said that if our leaders led, then they would lead people from consumerism to investing. That leadership would be one of the outside forces of one's immediate control, and could socialize people in a positive way that significantly impacts economic opportunity and upward mobility.

I think that the majority of people, rich/poor/middle are hard workers. The rich had somebody to teach them how to succeed and our leaders could do the same for the poor.

But thank you for completely missing the point of my comment while accusing me of missing the point yada yada yada.

While I agree with some of your post on the comments that Romney made, I must question some of your conclusions.

I agree with you regarding intangibles affecting people's success; timing, luck, and your "connections" help more sometimes than education level. But your lack of faith, it seems, in a person's ability to overcome the lack of those intangibles to succeed is distressing.

The problem I see is that people have been sold the idea, mainly by Progressives, that everyone is deserving of not only a chance but of a positive result. The "Everyone gets a trophy" syndrome. What is great about America is that, ideally, everyone gets a chance but not everyone will succeed. We are about equal opportunity, not equal results. Not everyone will be a millionaire, as you say, but we are told that we should be.

Your analysis of Romney's 47% statement misses the mark when it comes to Republican's ideas of success and failure, and what it takes to get there. Your generalization about Republicans believing that it is just hard work that makes people successful ignores the family, friends, and even some government assistance that helps them be successful. Most Republicans work hard, get help when needed, but don't expect anyone to do their work for them. They don't expect government to help them, and don't want government to do things that your neighbor or community SHOULD do for you.

The drive for wealth has been elevated in recent years by social media and our culture as the penultimate goal of life. If I don't have a record contract or drive a Denali or have the newest gadget then I'm not successful. Your post shows just how pervasive this belief is, and just how dangerous that meme can be. If a majority of British and French think that the rich don't deserve their wealth, that is their perogative as more Socialist societies. We in America believe that people deserve what they earn. No matter what the Occupy movement tells us.

The point is that success should not only be defined by how much money you make. Most people I think dont care to be mega rich. They just want extra money to buy that stupid smart phone and be able to put food on the table.

Mark the only people ignoring the family,friends, and government help that allows republicans to get ahead are in fact republicans. You are in the delusional bubble my friend. Her whole post was about just that.

I would like to see what evidence you cite regarding Republicans ignoring help from family and friends? Your point makes no sense; how can Republicans be successful but ignore those things that make people successful? I guess they DID build that...

And, no...her post is about what she considers a "delusional" idea in American culture; that hard work and determination can breed success. Even though this meme is an accepted part of our culture, she sees it as part of the problem. Her Progressive and politically left stance (obvious from her quips at Romney) put government assistance and cultural/class politics above the idea of personal hard work and self-determination. She pays lip service to the idea by saying she believes in the "American Dream" but then bemoans the idea that Americans overwhelmingly believe that the rich deserve their wealth! What nonsense.

Republicans writ large do not hate government assistance. What they hate is the government taking control of every facet of people's lives, forcing them to do that is "best" for them, and restricting their rights to do what they want, how they want to. The key difference is that Republicans believe you work from the inside out (family, community, and then if all else fails...government) where Progressives believe the opposite, just without the family or community.

Mark if you really want to understand what she is talking about, look up internal and external attributions. Also look up analytic and holistic thinking. There are ways a culture primes you to think. Its a bias. The people that can weed through the bs know that it takes the person and their situations to get them to where they are.

I would argue that the good Doctor used her own attributive bias against Romney because he is a Republican. Based on her own intuitive bias as a Progressive she (as well as yourself) see Romney's comment through the lens of your own world view. Way to throw Wikipedia psychology at me...

I don't think I would call our culture BS. We as Americans have a long history of hard work and determination. It is not a myth; it is not a punch line; it is something we should be proud of. It seems to me the only ones who are not are the ones who are not those that work very hard.

That said, in my earlier post I agreed with her that your circumstances can affect your success level and that environmental factors play a large role in how successful someone can be. But there are numerous examples of people who work extremely hard and become successful regardless of their circumstances. Using your environment as a excuse for your malaise is weak mindedness and the reason why we have such a divide in the first place. If you continuously drive the meme that you will never amount to anything because of your surroundings, then it happens, generation after generation.

I would argue that if Progressives stopped playing the "woe is me" card and actually told people that they could succeed on their own, their voting block would disappear. Probably why they don't do that...

Ok, good. I think we all agree that Americans are pretty freakin' awesome. I love being an American. I am so proud of us and the impact our people have on the world (yeah, I know this is petty, but something inside of me was secretly happy to find out Justin Bieber is from Canada. not that I have anything against the kid (or his Fiskar, but I digress)) I could go on all day about that. Being an American I mean, not JB. that would be weird.

There are those really inspiring stories you hear about folks being homeless or whatever and then they write a book, or release an album, or they pushed themselves so hard that they get into Harvard. We have many stories like that. but there's what, over 300 million people that live here? Yeah, that's a lot of stories. Some of them are really, really tragic and sad. Some are uplifting and inspiring. You hear of plenty of stories about very wealthy people going through incredibly horrific things. Murder, suicide, other tragic deaths, addiction, [basic scandal] you name it. I don't consider that success no matter how much money or how much stuff they have. I think we must redefine what success means to us. The pursuit of happiness. That is what the American Dream is all about. Some people devote their whole lives to helping others. Not all of these people are rich. In fact, they may be more poor than the person they are trying to help. But they are doing what they love. And if doing what you love gets you a paycheck at all, then you are already very fortunate.

But in between all of that, you have the people who are just struggling everyday just to get by. Doing the best they can. But don't get me wrong. I do taxes for a living. Nothing makes me more mad than to see someone pay no taxes and because of the Earned Income Credit get over 10 grand back. Yes, $10,000. But my husband and I get hit with $3,000 extra Alternative Minimum Tax. Especially irritating is when I know they are spending it on something stupid like (true stories here) an Escalade, Christian Louboutin's, Coach/Louie Vuitton bag, iPhone, iPad, X-Box, a bunch of other crap you can get at Best Buy, I could go on. But the fact is, is that this money helps many working families keep their heads above water. In the last few years, the IRS has gotten serious about auditing these returns. And, starting next year, everyone who is a paid preparer must pass a test and be registered with the IRS. This is our government working for us. this was badly needed oversite. Yeah, catch the bastards who shouldn't have this money. And they are, oh they are. There are going to be a lot of people standing there looking stupid when the IRS sends them an audit letter asking them to prove they were supposed to get that money. So if you are claiming a child you are not supposed to, look out. But also realize that the bulk of it really makes a difference to those families that need it.

I don't understand why anyone would ever defend this dependency crap. We have our assholes, freeloaders, and lazy losers. Boy do we have them. And they come from all walks of life. But so do our most generous. And as a whole, when we are at our best, we are pretty freakin' awesome.

I think that there is considerable misunderstanding of what the actual point of my argument was. This tends to happen when people split arguments, or the person making them, into "Republicans" versus "Democrats". I am not exhibiting a bias based on political affiliation, what I wrote in this post is actually rooted in research. Specifically, I am a social psychologist so I am trained to recognize the significant influence that culture and social situations have on individual behavior and performance. By and large, those outside of our field tend to prize personality over other factors, and generally minimize or dismiss the influence of social factors on individual performance (this is what is referred to as the "fundamental attribution error"). I am NOT advocating that one is unable to overcome their circumstances and thrive even in the worst situations, that is a fundamental aspect of resiliency that everyone has the capacity for. Survivors of genocide and atrocities are a testament to such resilience. However, what I do think is lacking presently in the "47%" discussion is that Romney's assertion appears to promote this notion that everyone always gets what they deserve, or that socioeconomic status can be reduced to personality or hard work solely, which is reductionistic and inaccurate. This belief, which I refer to as a fundamental delusion, has permeated American culture and tends to be the filter through which many of us then make our attributions of the rich and the poor. If we want to have an honest debate about economics that moves beyond political affiliation and ideology, as academics we need to get the research out there. And the research suggests that there are significant socio-cultural factors that impact SES that are not just based on personality (such as the ones that I listed in my post). You don't have to be a Republican or Democrat to endorse my arguments, you just have to be willing to accept research and what it shows us about human behavior. Recognizing environmental factors that impact success isn't using it as an "excuse" it is a reality that many people have to work hard to overcome. It isn't "woe is me" to recognize how cultural institutions may be serving as barriers for some segments of our country rather than as support, it is a reality that the majority of our country is struggling with. Ultimately, we cannot change one's individual personality, but we can identify cultural barriers so we can offer institutional support and services.

You are absolutely correct when it comes to environmental factors and personal circumstances playing a direct role in a person's success; I have agreed with you in all of the responses I have written, and will continue to do so. A person's sphere of influence is extrememly instrumental in their success or failure, along with a myriad of other factors besides.

Social factors play a huge role in success or failure, but to ignore or minimize the affect that industrious work and personal responsibility have on that outcome does a disservice to those who have struggled and succeeded. That mindset also spreads the memes of dependency and hopelessness that we all try to get rid of. If one group or culture continues to hear the idea that they have to be dependent upon the government for their assistance (social welfare programs, affirmative action programs, etc) then they will continue to perform poorly. Resiliency is very important, but it must be taught and engrained.

I accept research, as all academics should, with a grain of salt and a highlighter. Just because a paper says "X" does not necessarily mean that it is really "X." But understanding context is as important as accepting research. We must use all resources at our disposal to attempt to understand causation.

Biases play a role in even the most even-handed research, as well as blog posts. I have my own biases, and they rear their ugly head sometimes. For that, I apologize to you for it. I would hope that we could all continue this discussion honestly.

Mark neither extreme is good. Saying you can become anything you want if you work hard is delusional, and telling your kids that it doesnt matter what you do the man will keep you down is also delusional. But I dont think anyone was saying that hard work doesnt ever pay off.